by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert
Christmas is almost here, bringing good cheer to young and old, the modest and the bold
One seems to hear words of good cheer from everywhere filling the air. They aim to send without end their joyful tone to every home.
The Christmas holidays present unique chances for connection, generosity, and personal development, whether you’re volunteering, traveling, or reflecting on your life. It’s a season where communities need extra support, businesses benefit from holiday demand, and individuals can rest or discover fresh traditions. Christmas is more than just celebration, it’s a strategic moment for building community ties, strengthening businesses, and nurturing personal growth.
Christmas peace is a spark. It should be the beginning and a real opportunity to institutionalize that spark into structures, narratives, and coalitions that make peace permanent and lead to enduring harmony.
Companionship is a powerful gift. Many, be it elderly or isolated individuals, feel lonely when public life slows down. Yet, some take advantage of downtime for creative pursuits like writing, painting, or exploring hobbies. That creativity for itself could actually lead to a new path in life. Turn your hobby into a career and you’ll never work a day in your life anymore.
It is a time for Personal Growth self-reflection: The pause in routine allows people to reassess priorities and set goals for the new year. Spiritual services and traditions provide opportunities for renewal, deeper meaning and community bonding renewal.
Some philosophers point out the contradiction in celebrating “peace on earth” and kindness at Christmas while ignoring suffering and conflicts persist throughout the rest of the year. The holiday temporarily encourages kindness, generosity, and reconciliation, often masking deeper societal issues, economic divides, and cultural tensions. After the season, old patterns resume and goodwill fades. Many traditions now focus more on consumption than genuine connection, with togetherness driven by social pressure rather than spontaneous personal choice.
The symbolic “Peace on earth” can be narrowly interpreted as seasonal harmony rather than a lifelong ethic. When society reduces it to seasonal sentiment, it may strip away the deeper meaning. Once the festive atmosphere fades, division, competition, inequality, and systemic injustice often outweigh goodwill. People are more willing to act kindly when reminded by rituals, but without constant reinforcement, peace slips into the background.
Christmas should be a glimpse of what’s possible. The season shows that humans can choose compassion, generosity, and reconciliation, if only briefly. The challenge is to extend that mindset beyond December. Christmas peace may feel seasonal, but it also reveals that peace is within reach if societies commit to it year-round.
Encourage holiday season pledges into commitments for year-round projects. Why not position the Holidays as a year-round sanctuary joy to the world. Why not have festive lights extending their resonance beyond December. Think of attracting visitors and tourists.
Ornaments are up to celebrate, but when ornaments come down it feels like a hangover. In January, a post-holiday hangover sets in which is like a foggy feeling after the festive season leaving you sluggish when normal routines resume. The holidays are packed with anticipation, social connection, and heightened emotions. When the festivities end, the contrast can feel like a crash, similar to the “comedown” after a big event.
January can symbolize beginnings. The Holidays should just be a pause before stepping into new habits. Frame the hangover as a threshold moment, a passage into clarity and sustainability. Position the reset as part of your identity, a calibration that strengthens resilience, clarity, and collective identity. It is a time to clear mental clutter and focus on intention-setting rather than indulgence. Reconsider your priorities in life and intentional living.
Instead of considering Christmas as a break, frame it as an opportunity and proof that societies can choose peace, then challenge them to extend it. Transform the seasonal spirit of into a year-round movement for peace and empowerment all around. Acknowledge that seasonal reconciliation is insufficient but serves as evidence of possibility. Frame Christmas goodwill as a spark to ignite year-round commitments. Turn it into a “New Normal” and let the holidays mark endings. Let it be a signal that the old rhythm has run its course, and it’s time to step into a new normal that’s more sustainable, intentional, and aligned with your long-term goals.
If you don’t want ‘more of the same’ in your future. Sketch out a framework now for turning the post-holidays into a personal ritual of renewal. Think of it as a blueprint for a “new normal” that transforms wishes and hope into energy and motion.
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